Spicy Honey Butter Chicken Sandwich (Printable Format)

Golden crispy chicken smothered in hot honey butter, stacked with cheese and pickles on slider buns for easy pull-apart perfection.

# What's Needed:

→ For the Chicken

01 - 12 chicken tenders, approximately 1.5 pounds
02 - 1 cup buttermilk
03 - 1 large egg
04 - 1.5 cups panko breadcrumbs
05 - 0.5 cup all-purpose flour
06 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
07 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
08 - 1 teaspoon onion powder
09 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
10 - 1 teaspoon salt
11 - 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
12 - Cooking spray or 3 tablespoons neutral oil for baking

→ For the Hot Honey Butter

13 - 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
14 - 0.25 cup honey
15 - 1.5 tablespoons hot sauce
16 - 0.5 teaspoon chili flakes, optional
17 - 0.25 teaspoon salt

→ For Assembly

18 - 12 slider buns or Hawaiian rolls
19 - 8 slices cheddar or pepper jack cheese
20 - 0.5 cup sliced dill pickles
21 - 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing buns
22 - 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, optional for topping

# How To Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease the surface.
02 - In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg. Submerge chicken tenders in the mixture and allow to marinate for 10 minutes.
03 - In a shallow dish, combine panko breadcrumbs, all-purpose flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
04 - Remove each chicken tender from the marinade, allow excess liquid to drip off, then dredge thoroughly in the breadcrumb mixture. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
05 - Spray or drizzle the coated chicken with cooking spray or neutral oil. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown and cooked through.
06 - While the chicken bakes, whisk together melted butter, honey, hot sauce, chili flakes, and salt in a small bowl until fully combined.
07 - Once the chicken is baked, transfer it to a bowl and toss thoroughly with the hot honey butter sauce until completely coated.
08 - Lower oven temperature to 350°F.
09 - Slice slider buns horizontally while keeping the bottoms connected as a base. Arrange bun bottoms in a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
10 - Layer cheese slices over the bun bottoms, followed by the sauced chicken tenders, then sliced dill pickles. Cover with bun tops.
11 - Brush the tops of the buns with melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes until cheese melts and buns are lightly toasted.
12 - Remove from oven and serve warm. Pull apart individual sliders and enjoy immediately.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like a restaurant-quality spicy chicken sandwich but comes together in under an hour with minimal fuss.
  • The hot honey butter does all the heavy lifting flavor-wise, and watching people's faces light up when they taste that sweet-spicy-savory combo is genuinely worth it.
02 -
  • Don't skip the buttermilk soak—I once thought it was unnecessary and the chicken came out tougher and drier, and I never made that mistake again.
  • The honey butter needs to go on the chicken while it's hot, not warm—the residual heat helps the glaze set into a sticky coating instead of just sliding off.
03 -
  • The double-coat trick works amazingly if you want maximum crunch—dip the buttermilk-coated chicken in breadcrumbs, then dip it back in buttermilk, then back in breadcrumbs one more time for a seriously craggy, golden coating.
  • Don't let the coated chicken sit on the baking sheet for more than a few minutes before baking, or the moisture from the buttermilk will start to soften the coating and you'll lose some of that crispness you worked for.
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